American Idol

Sparks delights in afternoon concert

American Idol Jordin Sparks entertained fans Wednesday afternoon and was expected to mingle with celebs through the evening at Peoria’s Skye restaurant.

The homegrown Glendale girl’s concert attracted a lot of the under-18 crowd. Okay, make that younger than 12. Burly security guards held back a sea of screaming 5- to 8-year-olds with “I love Jordin” signs.

Spark’s dad and former New York Giants player Phillippi Sparks said the afternoon concert was to give back to fans who helped launch her career.

“If it wasn’t for them, she wouldn’t be where she is today,” he said.

Sparks was joined by other 2007 AI stars Melinda Doolittle, Chris Richardson and Sanjaya Malakar. Doolittle, who arrived in the Valley in time to catch Phoenix Suns game Tuesday, belted out her anthem I am a Woman. Doolittle said Sparks didn’t have to ask her twice.

AZCentral

Fox beats competition with ‘House,’ ‘Idol’

NEW YORK — One of a handful of new “House” episodes burned brightly Tuesday, overshadowing everything else in the hour, and along with “American Idol” gave Fox a big win.

“House” (22.5 million, 8.6 rating/20 share in adults 18-49) returned in fine form, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by Nielsen Media Research. “House” got its highest 18-49 ratings since May 2007 and was its most-watched episode since last March. It’s up 47% over its season average in viewership and 41% in 18-49.

An hour earlier, “American Idol” (28.1 million, 11.0/27) was dominant. A two-hour “The Biggest Loser” (8.3 million, 3.3/8) was down from last week but rose steadily hour to hour in 18-49.

Hollywood Reporter

Continue reading ‘Idol Headlines for 1/31/08′

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Phil’s Pages: The first installment

Let’s start out the week with the inaugural installment of Phil’s Pages, wherein Season 6 finalist Phil Stacey kicks off a series of first-person accounts of his new, post-Idol career.

Hi! Phil Stacey here, you might remember me from the last season of American Idol. So much has happened in the last few months. It seems like it’s gone by so quickly.

The American Idol tour finished in late September. In October, I ended my active-duty Navy stint and ended up joining the Navy Reserve. I also relocated my family from Florida to Nashville, which was really cool. As much as I loved Florida, I didn’t have any family anywhere near me. My mom and dad live in Nashville, and so do my brother and sister-in-law, and now we get to all see each other a lot.

You might have also heard that I signed a record deal with Lyric Street Records and have my first CD coming out on April 15. I met the folks from the record label while I was on tour and we talked about the possibility of cutting a record. After the tour, we decided to go ahead and do it.

Idol Chatter

American Idol support group

Leesa Bellesi threw her hands up in the air and prayed: “Here I am Lord, send me to the backstage of American Idol.”

She was watching Season 5 of the ultra-popular television show in her Laguna Beach home at the time.

It was her calling, she thought, “to minister to the needs of the people on that show.”

Several weeks later, out of the blue, a pretty girl named Katharine McPhee walked into Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena where Leesa’s husband, Denny, founder of Coast Hills Community Church in Aliso Viejo, was serving as the interim teaching pastor. Katharine asked Leesa and Denny to pray for her – as she was about to go into seclusion for American Idol.

After so many Idol encounters, Leesa is launching a website, aiministryresource.com on Feb. 14, the day after the top 24 are announced, to offer them spiritual encouragement and financial support as they sing for votes and a shot at a life-changing record deal.

“I think it’s great,” says Sligh, who last week flew from Nashville, where he is recording a Christian rock album, to stay a few days at the Leesa’s mobile home getaway overlooking the oceanfront Montage Resort in Laguna Beach. “To have people who are willing to come to you financially when you’re in that position; It is a struggle.”

OCRegister

Continue reading ‘Idol Headlines for 1/29/08′

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Since all of this is embargoed until AFTER the show airs on January 29th…

On Tuesday, January 29th during the American Idol Omaha auditions show, you will see a crop circle stretched across 5 acres that says, ‘Welcome to Omaha American Idol.’ Swanson Russell Associates created it and now it’s American Idol’s ‘Big Reveal.’

They are now using it as the ‘cold open’ (shot Miami-Vice style) for the Omaha audition show on January 29th. The senior producer for American Idol calls the crop circle his ‘big reveal.’

PRWatch

Life after ‘American Idol’

Kyle Reinneck was recently showcased on the Dallas auditions of “American Idol” singing a song made famous by the original Idol, Kelly Clarkson. Now the Edwardsville native is feeling the effects of appearing on such a popular program.

But Reinneck, 20, said he didn’t even sing the Clarkson song, “Never Again” in front of the judges. He actually sang “Disease” by Matchbox 20. Before a contestant goes in front of the three judges “you have interviews and you practice in the room, but you’re in front of producers and at any time they can let you go. So that was one of the times (I performed) before (singing in front of) the judges,” Reinneck said.

He said most of Randy, Paula and Simon’s reactions — including Simon saying the performance was slightly demonic — that were shown on the program were authentic, however, he thinks the art of editing played a role as well.

Suburban Journals

Continue reading ‘Idol Headlines for 1/28/08′

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Carrie Underwood - All American Girl - Video

American Idol winner Carrie Underwood’s video for “All-American Girl”.

Yeeha! Awesome. Loved this video.

Carrie you’re so pretty!

Rickey.org

‘American Idol’ controversy? Some viewers miffed, but it’s just business as usual

I just can’t believe all the things people say. Controversy!

Apologies to Prince for stealing his lyrics, but it seemed a fitting way to begin this week’s column on “American Idol.”

Yes, I’ve been watching the Fox TV reality series, although with a more casual eye than usual. Without a Birmingham-area contestant on the horizon — at least, none that’s been listed on Internet spoiler lists of the top 50– it’s been amusing to sit back and observe the early audition episodes filmed in Philadelphia, Dallas, San Diego and Charleston, S.C.

AL.com

American Idol may be down (in ratings), but it’s certainly not out

Have you been seeing all the headlines ballyhooing American Idol and how the ratings are slipping and they’d better be careful. Did you know most shows erode viewers every season? This is the first Idol season premiere to be down from the prior year, so seven seasons in before premiere numbers drop is nothing short of extraordinary. And never mind that this year’s premiere reached an impressive 33.4 million, it was down 11% from last year.

TV Squad

Continue reading ‘Idol Headlines for 1/26/08′

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Beyonce, Foo Fighters, Rihanna, Carrie Underwood To Perform At Grammys

The Grammys may not have any writers, but the February 10 show will have Beyoncé. The former Destiny’s Child leader is among the first group of performers who’ve been confirmed for the ceremony, which recently got a commitment from the Writers Guild of America that it will not picket the 50th edition of music’s biggest night.

Also slated to perform is country superstar and former “American Idol” winner Carrie Underwood and the Foo Fighters, who will play their song “The Pretender” with an orchestra led by guest conductor John Paul Jones, bassist for the recently reunited Led Zeppelin.

The show will also feature what’s being billed as a “special segment” with Rihanna performing alongside a reunion of 1980s R&B/funk act the Time. A tribute to gospel music will bring together Mary J. Blige, Aretha Franklin, Israel and New Breed, Madison Bumblebees, the Clark Sisters and Trin-I-Tee 5:7.

MTV

‘The Color Purple’ ends run

The Broadway tuner adaptation of “The Color Purple” will shutter Feb. 24 after more than two years on the boards.
Show, which opened Dec. 1, 2005, recouped its $11 million investment in about a year and has grossed around $102 million in Gotham so far.

Tuner, which saw box office flag after its first year, reinvigorated sales last spring with the addition to the cast of “American Idol” alum Fantasia Barrino. The week the thesp began her stint in the show in April, grosses rocketed up by more than $365,000 to nearly $1.2 million.

Her departure this month, however, precipitated a steep drop in sales (compounded by the usual post-holiday doldrums that affect all of Broadway), with week-to-week receipts dropping by nearly half (to $388,936) after her final perf Jan. 6. Last week the show logged receipts of $477,153.

Variety

‘Idol’ and Football Team Up to Push Fox Into the Ratings End Zone

The return of “American Idol” and a Giants-Packers game that clocked a crazy 54 million viewers cooked up Fox’s highest rated non-Super-Bowl week ever. That week includes three nights in which the network averaged more than 30 million viewers. And what with four months more of the can’t-kill-it-with-a-stick singing competition plus this year’s Super Bowl broadcast, Fox is on track to win the TV season among viewers of all ages for the first time in its history.

“American Idol.” About 33.4 million people settled in last Tuesday to watch the seventh-season debut of Fox’s improbable ratings behemoth. Which, sadly for Fox, is about 4 million shy of the sixth-season opener but, on the bright side, is about 6 million more people than watched ABC, CBS, NBC and CW combined in the same two-hour period. About 30.4 million viewers decided they could stomach a second night of the trademark lousy auditions last Wednesday. That fell nearly 7 million shy of last season’s Wednesday kickoff but was still enough people to again flatten the competition.

Washington Post

Continue reading ‘Idol Headlines for 1/25/08′

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